Thursday, October 28, 2010

Asteroids Spin Faster Due to Solar Power, Studies Show

Sunlight can speed up or slow down the spin of small asteroids, according to a trio of related papers appearing this week. The discovery offers the first direct evidence of a predicted asteroid behavior.

"The solar system is a very dynamic place, and our star affects all worlds—even small ones," said Patrick Taylor, a graduate student at Cornell University in New York State.